Less is More: Asus plans to sell fewer versions of Eee PC

In The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Barry Schwartz argues that when we have too many choices, no matter what we choose we are never satisfied. Apple seems to know this and typically keeps only about 3-4 products in each of its lines at a time (e.g. iPod: Shuffle, Nano, Classic and Touch. Notebooks: MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.)

Asus will only launch two or three versions of the Eee PC this year, such as the Eee PC Touch and Eee PC Seashell, a company representative said Friday.

The new netbook strategy differs greatly from last year.

Asustek sold over 20 different versions of the Eee PC last year, with different names such as the Eee PC S101, Eee PC 1000H, Eee PC Surf and more. Analysts said the strategy hurt Asus in its bid to fight off competition from newcomers to the market segment, such as Acer, Dell and Lenovo.

Hopefully this move will allow customers to make better choices and help the company’s success. I’ll be watching.